One reason Jesus chose to dedicate the majority of His time on earth in family life points to a reflection for this continuing Christmas season: relationships. Our lives bear scars from broken relationships, contrary to God’s plan. Christ knew this—and He came to restore us.

Multiple relationships suffered due to our fallen nature: our relationship with God, authority, His angels and ourselves and with our spouses, children, work, parents and friends. Yet, in Christ’s Incarnation, God began to restore these broken relationships.

God and Authority: In the Old Testament, the Israelites replaced their divine king with a human king. In the New Testament, God became man to restore our disordered worship of authority, showing us that only He can be trusted in a position of such grand responsibility and power.

Angels: Throughout human history, there was always the temptation to worship and collaborate with evil spirits. In the Nativity scene, God shows the purpose of angels and how these good spirits are here to help us on our journey to Heaven. They deliver vital messages to Sts. Joseph and Mary, deliver and protect the Holy Family, reveal the Good News to shepherds and may have guided the Magi to find the newborn King.

Ourselves: Christ entered into our humanity, and He not only restored our dignity through His presence within our flesh but also glorified us through His death and resurrection. Through Him, humanity would no longer fall into the mutilating pride of self-worship or self-hate.

Parents and Ancestors: God came as the New Adam to restore within us an understanding of and love for parenthood, ancestry and heritage. Through His presence and the preservation of His Blessed Mother and the heroic and virtuous St. Joseph, He instituted the new lineage of humanity through the Holy Family, the new blessed source of our heritage, culture and tradition.

Children: Jesus came as a child in the womb to restore our work with God and humanity’s understanding of and love for the gift of children. Through the image of the Holy Home and Sts. Joseph and Mary, He grants us a living sign of what relationships with our children ought to look like.

Work: Through St. Joseph’s loving example of setting aside his work to tend to his wife and family’s needs, God reveals a proper understanding of work and how to carry it out well when balancing life’s demands. Through St. Joseph, God restored the mission of work, breathing renewed meaning into our labor.

Marriage: Marriage too was restored when Christ entered into the Blessed Virgin’s womb. Through the marriage between Sts. Joseph and Mary, we can perceive the true meaning of marriage, the great depth of its goodness and the importance of family life. And as much as Christ came as the “fruit” of the womb, He also came as bridegroom, restoring within us a proper relationship with romance and true, willful love.

Friends: In the Nativity scene, we catch sight of the shepherds and Magi’s friendships as they journey to find the Newborn King. We also have the witness of Sts. Joseph and Mary, who enjoyed both the love of friendship and of marriage. Through these examples, we see the renewed mission of friendship: to help each other reach the perfection of Christian virtue in the communal love of the Trinity.

Reflecting on the Nativity helps us see how Christ is directing our relationships toward a new humanity: fully restored, fully alive. This comtinuing Christmas season, let’s recall God’s desire to restore and heal through the wondrous, relationship between Sts. Joseph and Mary and through our own collaboration with Christ’s divine assistance.

Trenton Scroggins is the Director of Digital Engagement for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. [email protected]

This article appeared in the January 2024 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.